37-year-old cleared of POCSO case after spending 4 years in jail

A Maulana accused of sexually harassing a minor student has been acquitted after spending four years in jail, as the girl and her family couldn't identify him in court. The special court found no evidence of sexual harassment, but the Maulana was accused of scolding and beating the girl.

MUMBAI: A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court has recently acquitted a 37-year-old Maulana (a religious scholar) who was arrested for sexually harassing a minor student in October 2015. The man was acquitted after he spent around four years behind bars as the child and her family could not identify him in the court because of a lapse of time.

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The special court also found no evidence of sexual harassment against the Maulana as the girl in her testimony did not mention any act which would constitute sexual harassment by the accused but said he scolded her and had beaten her with stick for not being able to recite Quran.

According to the complaint registered with the Shivaji Nagar police station in Chembur, the girl had gone to a Madarsa to learn Quran and Urdu on October 26, 2015. Her mother, who had reported the matter to the police, claimed that after returning from the madrasa she was scared and started crying.

When the mother asked, the girl claimed that on that day their regular Maulana was not present. and the accused took their class. The girl claimed that when she went to recite the Holy Quran, she finished reciting one page after which the accused touched her inappropriately and also removed her dupatta. She said she got scared and pleaded with him to allow her to go home, but the accused held her hand and told that she had to recite the Quran. The accused further asked the only other boy present in the class to leave, after which the girl got scared and ran out.

Based on the narrative given by the victim, the parents went to confront the Maulana and later lodged a case of sexual harassment the same day. The accused was arrested on October 27, 2015, and was in prison till he was granted bail on August 27, 2019.

The trial in the case, however, commenced only on March 3, 2020, wherein the prosecution examined four witnesses – the girl, her parents and the Maulana, who used to take the classes on a regular basis.

However, in her testimony before the court, the girl claimed that she went to recite the Quran to the accused. However, she did not know the Sabak, and the accused insisting her to recite it and made her sit near his table. The girl claimed that she requested him to allow him to go, learn and come back but the accused assaulted her with a stick in her palm. During this, her dupatta also fell down. However, the girl could not identify the maulana in the court.